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Tamzara

Genre	Folk dance
Origin	Armenian Highlands

Tamzara is a folk dance native to Armenian Highlands. In Armenia the dance originally had a ritual character, it was a wedding song and dance. Now "Tamzara" has lost its former ritual significance, when it was performed during almost all community events and parties. It is today performed by Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijanis (in the regions of Sharur, Nakhchivan and parts of Iranian Azerbaijan), and Greeks. In post-Soviet Armenia, tamzara dance is gaining more and more popularity among all strata of the population.

This dance was also especially popular in the formerly Armenian-populated regions of Erzincan, Erzurum, Kigi, Arapgir, Harput, and Malatya. There are many versions of Tamzara, with slightly different music and steps, coming from the various regions and old villages in the Armenian Highlands. According to Folk Dance Federation of California, Inc (July, 2001) Tamzara is performed by Armenians not only in Armenia, also in the countries of Armenian Diaspora.

History and description

The meaning of this dance, which is famous in the villages of Charchibogan, Chomakhtur and other villages of Nakhchivan's Sharur region, is "Gizili tanbatan" (half golden) in word-by-word translation. Tamzara is included to the repertoire of the folklore dancing collectives respectively. The women dancing used to dress luxuriously and adorn themselves with golden accessories, including rings, ear-rings, bracelets, chains and others.

In 2018, Azerbaijani-style Tamzara, along with Yalli and Kochari, was inscribed into the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

Style

All Tamzaras have the unique
₈ rhythm, with the two accented beats at the end of each measure. In addition, the melody to most Tamzaras is very similar, though there are exceptions. Like most folk dances of the Armenian Highlands, Tamzara is done as a line dance or circle dance, with a large group of people with interlocked pinkies. However one version of the Tamzara is done by a man with one or two women standing shoulder to shoulder facing the same direction with their arms around each other's waists.

Tamzara is one of the most popular Armenian folk dances to have been preserved in the United States by the Armenian-American community.

See also

• An Dro
• Faroese dance
• Kalamatianos
• Khigga
• Syrtos
• Yalli

Notes

1. Armenian: Թամզարա, romanized: T'amzara; Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܬܢܙܪܐ, romanized: Tanzara; Azerbaijani: Tənzərə; Greek: Τάμσαρα, romanized: Támsara; Turkish: Tamzara

References

1. Thirty Assyrian Folk Dances
2. (in Azerbaijani) Irada Sariyeva. Yalli Dances of Nakhchivan. Baki Khabar. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
3. Recep Albayrak Hacaloğlu. Azeri Türkçesi dil kilavuzu. Hacaloğlu, 1992; p. 272.
4. "Pontic Music and Dance presented in Culture section". www.newsfinder.org. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10.
5. Tamzara, Folk Dance Federation of California
6. VitriFolk Belgian Dance Community
7. "Stockton Folk Dance Camp" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
8. ^ Tamzara, Folk Dance Federation of California
9. Yalli (Kochari, Tenzere), traditional group dances of Nakhchivan. UNESCO.

External links

• Armenian Tamzara by Karin Folk Ensemble
• Authentic Tamzara from Historical Armenia performed by Armenian Folk Dance Society. The Armenian Folk Dance Society performed at the 1939 and 1964 World's Fair in New York.
• Greek Tamsara, Tamzara
• Armenian Davul-Zurna Tamzara (2) sample
• Armenian Tamzara by Richard Hagopian, Fresno California

External videos
Darulelhan Heyeti Tarafından - Sivas Tamzarasi (Taş Plak Arşivi)

v t e Circle dance
Types	Adana An dro Assyrian khigga Ballu tundu Berd Cachua Dabke Dances of Universal Peace Faroese Ganggangsullae Ghost dance Halay Hora Karikázó Khorovod Kolo Körtánc Kurdish dance Letkajenkka Mayim Mayim Pontic Greek Syrtos Tamzara Tarantella Thabal chongba Tresenica
Related	Barmaley Fountain Circumambulation Ecstatic dance Folk dance Participation dance Ring a Ring o' Roses Sacred dance Bernhard Wosien
List of dances

• Assyrian dances
• Greek dances
• Armenian dances
• Azerbaijani dances
• Circle dances